YMCA Camp Thunderbird Triathlon at Lake Wylie - TriathlonSprint

I thought this was a rough swim. I started towards the front of the wave. I feel I am a decent swimmer. SetUP reversed the course this year due to sighting problems last year (which was the right decision) It seemed like every breath I took before the first two turns I was taking in water. The waves beat me around a bit. I didnt catch my breath until after the last turn and it seemed the direction we were swimming in was better for the waves.
Coming out, the water was shallow for a long time and I stood up too early and tried to run out. I realized it was about 20 yards in knee deep water and I remembered how high the heart rate gets in transition and decided to walk out. I am sure that added to my time, and everyone elses.
Not my best swim, though.

One or more OWS practice would help considerably. So far, everything has been in the pool.

Seriously, 3:48. Second slowest transition in age group. There is an opportunity. In my defense,I did use cages on the bike and had to put on my running shoes.

Go clipless, wear a tri suit instead of a tech shirt....... I dont know, GO FASTER???????

I felt like my bike would be considerably better than it was. I felt so much stronger going into the race than last year. But, goodness, I got passed by a ton of people. Heart rate starting out had to be sky high. Didnt get calmed down until I hit the big turn on Youngblood road. Then felt better. Last half of ride went better than the first.

Ride more. Clipless will be taken care of as soon as I get back from vacation next week.

Biking with running shoes helped. Felt pretty good coming into T2 and leaving.

Practice

Yeah, it was hot. Yeah it was hilly. But everyone has to run the same course and this one kicked my arse.....again. I got a dose of reality with my fitness on this one. I walked as much as I ran and was really surprised with a time of 31 min. I thought it would be more than that.

Run more, longer distances. Get in better shape. All that stuff. It would probably help if I actually followed a program.

Drank a couple bottles of water, gatorade, diet coke.


What limited my ability? My fitness. I could blame the heat, course, etc. but it does no good and only gives excuses.


I actually like this race. I spent so much time in this lake growing up, I enjoy the race. I wish I would perform better. I did knock 5 minutes off my time from last year. So I got that going for me.
Set UP did another great job. After the race, they (Set UP and Camp Thunderbird) opened up a slide the campers use. 100 foot long and dump into the lake. My daughter and I loved it. It was fun seeing her having a good time and a great touch to the event. I will do this race again next year, and am expecting better results.